


Unspoken

by thecarlysutra



Series: Lakota Calendar [4]
Category: Thunderheart (1992)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-16
Updated: 2011-02-16
Packaged: 2017-10-15 19:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecarlysutra/pseuds/thecarlysutra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SUMMARY: myhappyface: “What I like to picture: Walter serenading Ray with Conway Twitty, ironically or genuinely. It's just happymaking.” Oh, Holly. I must like you an awful lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unspoken

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myhappyface](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhappyface/gifts).



  
The Sioux had their own calendar, Crow Horse explained, by the moons. That’s why there’s thirteen months instead of twelve.

 _So that_ many moons _thing is a real thing?_ Ray wanted to ask, but did not. Instead he asked what month they were in, now.

“ _Waniyetucokan Wi_ —Winter Moon,” Crow Horse said, and Ray flinched, because he could not even begin to understand how to fit his mouth around the words.

 _I will never learn how to speak Lakota,_ Ray thought, but did not say. Instead he nodded, and hoped Crow Horse would not ask him to repeat it, the way he often did with Lakota phrases.

He did not. Crow Horse was feeling too sentimental to put Ray through the paces, watching Ray lit by the full winter moon. He looked pale, even for him, but in a lovely, ethereal way. They were in the kitchen, watching an apathetic snow fall through the window over the sink, the flakes melting as soon as they hit the brown leaves carpeting the ground. They had been doing some long overdue spring cleaning, but since they were doing it after a full shift at work, it was easy to fall prey to distraction.

The moon lit the kitchen oddly, like an aquarium. Crow Horse had turned the radio on back when they were actually cleaning, and he swore that the notes were stretched now, like hearing them underwater. He could recognize them, still. Conway Twitty, “All I Have to Offer You is Me.”

 _Before you take another step, there’s something you should know  
About the years ahead and how they’ll be:  
You’ll be living in a world where roses hardly ever grow  
Cuz all I have to offer you is me._

Crow Horse turned from the window. He took Ray by the wrist, pulled him out into the middle of the linoleum dance floor. Crow Horse’s boots echoed softly in the aquarium kitchen as he swayed and pulled Ray against him. Ray frowned, took an uncertain step back.

“Come on, _kola_ ,” Crow Horse said softly.

Ray hesitated another moment, and then stepped forward, into Walter’s arms.

 _There’ll be no mansions waiting on the hill with crystal chandeliers,  
And there’ll be no fancy clothes for you to wear.  
Everyhing I have is standing here in front of you to see:  
All I have to offer you is me._

“You dance like a white man,” Walter purred against Ray’s ear.

Ray shivered. “What does that mean?”

“Stiff,” Walter said. “ _Wasi’chu_ ’s are afraid to let the music move them.”

“I think _Wasi’chu_ ’s are afraid to be embarrassed.”

“Just me here, Ray. Just you and me.”

 _Sweetheart, I’ll give you all my love in every way I can.  
But make sure that’s what you want while you’re still free.  
The only gold I have for you is in this wedding band:  
Cuz all I have to offer you is me._

Ray tried to relax, to move along with Walter. He still felt embarrassed, and so he concentrated instead on the comfort of being in Walter’s arms.

 _All I have to offer you is me._

 _I love you,_ Ray thought but did not say. Instead he rested his head on Walter’s shoulder, and let their shared rhythm rock him.  



End file.
